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Costa Rica shines in FITUR 2017 with sustainable tourism

This year, Costa Rica went to FITUR with a sustainable tourism model, which the country has been applying decades ago, and success was blatant. FITUR, or the International Tourism Fair, is an event that took place in Madrid (Spain) from January 18 to January 20; a rendezvous for everyone related to the tourism sector throughout Europe and Latin America.

This year, the fair´s main topic was sustainability. It´s also worth noting that Costa Rica reached a record mark of three million foreign visitors, placing the country as the number one touristic destination in the region.

FITUR is an event that has grown in time and different speakers from various regions such as America, Asia- Pacific and Europe attend. This year FITUR celebrated it´s thirty- second edition, with an assistance that was 6% higher than the year before. Organizers estimate there were 245.000 visitors this year and 9672 companies participated in the event. FITUR is the most important event of the sector in Spain and the second most important in Europe.

Costa Rica´s Minister of Tourism, Mauricio Ventura, said he expected to be able to show the whole world the groundbreaking touristic certification that displays Costa Rica´s calling towards sustainability. Ventura emphasized that more than 30% of the Costa Rican territory is protected. He also spoke about the fact that the country is starting to use clean sources of energy, and applying policies that help reduce the carbon footprint left by companies.

Ventura also mentioned that participating in the event allowed excellent networking that made a big difference regarding Costa Rica´s reputation as a first class touristic destination for European tourists. He also mentioned that Costa Rica aims to captivate the European market, which is considered to be a trigger for the touristic industry in the country. Costa Rica partook in FITUR 2017 together with 42 organizations related to the touristic sector in Costa Rica.

The government official also revealed that a European traveler stays up to 17 nights in Costa Rica. He also stated that in 2015, 300 thousand European tourists arrived in the country, and around 350 thousand in 2016, which is important for creating jobs. During the fair, the World Tourism Organization recognized Costa Rica, in the International Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017. Ventura responded to this recognition by saying that Costa Rica had decided to strengthen its touristic activity with a sustainable development model 20 years ago. The stand in the fair was so attractive that even the king and queen of Spain, Letizia and Felipe, came over to greet Costa Rica´s first lady, Mrs. Mercedes Peñas.